This invention relates in general to seals for providing a fire resistant barrier across a breach in an architectural structure, and in particular to seals which maintain a fire resistant barrier across a breach in an architectural structure despite relative movement of each side of the architectural structure.
In recent years it has been known that a degree of security from seismic damage may be achieved by the utilization of movable architectural structures. Such structures typically include a gap or breach between adjacent structural elements (such as a wall and a floor). The breach will permit a limited amount of relative movement between the individual structural elements without resulting in permanent damage to the structure.
A problem generated by the utilization of these so-called seismic gaps is that such gaps provide a ready communication from one section of a structure to another, thus permitting a fire or flooding situation to spread rapidly throughout the structure. Known attempts to solve this problem have typically utilized a compressible insulating material, such as a plastic foam, to fill these seismic gaps. While these compressible foams will provide a high degree of static insulation in the seismic gaps, a small amount of relative movement by the architectural barrier can result in an opening through the seismic gap through which fire or flooding may spread.